Durham Council Includes Rescue Mission Property In Historic District | Eastern North Carolina Now

    Publisher's note: The author of this post is Barry Smith, who is an associate editor for the Carolina Journal, John Hood Publisher.

Proposed Golden Belt Historic District would 'gentrify' neighborhood and drive out low-income residents, mission operators say

    UPDATED Tuesday, 10:35 p.m.: A divided City Council on Tuesday night handed the Durham Rescue Mission a defeat by refusing to exclude the organization's property from a proposed local historic district, a move the mission says will increase its costs in building affordable housing and a community center for the city's poor.

    After more than two hours of debate and statements from members of the public, the council voted 4-3 to approve the Golden Belt Local Historic District and Preservation Plan as proposed by the consultants and approved by the city's planning commission. The mission had asked that its lots, 15 of which are vacant, be exempted from the district.

    Mayor Bill Bell supported the mission's request. He, along with Mayor Pro-tem Cora Cole-McFadden and Councilman Eddie Davis, voted against the plan. They were outnumbered by council members Jillian Johnson, Don Moffitt, Charlie Reese, and Steve Schewel.

    Bell said the proposal tried to pull property owners into the district who didn't want to be there. "My concern is that I think you have overreached," Bell said.

    Moffitt disagreed. "I don't think being in the district would create an undue burden on them," he said.

    Saying a potential move by the City Council could make prices in the neighborhood served by the Durham Rescue Mission cost-prohibitive, the mission's leaders used an Aug. 31 press event to ask city leaders not to include a number of the mission's parcels in a proposed historic district.

    "We are not opposed to the Golden Belt Historic District," Ernie Mills, founder and CEO of the Durham Rescue Mission, said during a press conference located on Worth Street vacant lot that the mission hopes one day to be the site of a community center. "On this side, we need to cut out a small piece of the pie so that we can have affordable housing for those that need that."

    A public hearing on a proposed Golden Belt Local Historic District and Preservation Plan was on Tuesday's agenda of the Durham City Council. Neither Mayor Bell nor Beverly Thompson, public affairs director, responded to a request to respond to the Durham Rescue Mission's plea. The Durham Rescue Mission owns two dozen lots - including 15 vacant ones - in the proposed historic district. It hopes to use the lots for affordable housing and a community center, but those plans could be derailed if the historic district goes forward.

    "If we are annexed into the local historic district, we would be severely hampered in our efforts to provide that clean, safe affordable housing to the folks who are in the process of rebuilding their lives," said Mills' son Ernie Mills Jr. "The net effect of the historic district would be to gentrify the neighborhood and to drive the poor from their homes."


Durham Rescue Mission founder Ernie Mills discusses how a proposed historic district would hinder his mission's charitable work in the community. (CJ photo by Barry Smith)

    Mills Jr. said the mission, with the help of a contractor well-versed in historic districts and home renovation, estimated how much more it would cost to build and renovate houses if they were included in the historic district.

    "He said the cost to renovate a home to where someone would want to live in it would be $150 per square foot if renovated according to the historic standards," the younger Mills said. That compares to $80 outside a historic district, Mills Jr. said.

    Mills Jr. continued. "It's just simply not affordable at that rate to be able to create and provide affordable housing for folks who are the most needy in our community," Mills Jr. said.

    People entering or re-entering the work force are starting off fresh, usually with low incomes, Mills Jr. said. "Sometimes they really need an affordable place to live," he said. "We want to make sure that any plans that the city has also allows for affordable housing, to build that into the plan."

    The same goes for retirees, Mills Jr. said, referring to a retired woman he spoke with who lives on $12,000 a year.

    "Her property was annexed into a local historic district and as a result of that annexation, her property taxes went up by $600 a year," Mills Jr. said. "I'm no genus, but that's $50 a month. ... That's a severe hit to this lady." He said family members are able to help her, but not everyone is as fortunate as she is.

    The younger Mills said the mission is not opposed to the entire historic district, and that the mission is asking the city to adopt "a common sense plan" that would allow the Durham Rescue Mission to continue the work it has done for 42 years.

    "We haven't asked the city for anything - no money," Mills Jr. said. "We haven't asked the county for any money. We haven't asked the state for any money."

    Mills Jr. said thousands of generous donors make their mission possible. "On behalf of the donors, on behalf of the clients that we serve every year, I'm asking the City Council to please consider exempting the Durham Rescue Mission's properties on the eastern side of Highway 55 from the boundaries of the Golden Belt Local Historic District," he said.

    Two Durham ministers spoke of the mission's work.

    "The idea that you would take a program like this and add cost to it is not humane," said the Rev. Melvin Whitley. "It is not wise, and it's not merciful.

    Whitley said three members of his church have come through the Durham Rescue Mission's programs. Two now are homeowners and one has finished college, Whitley said.

    "Someone has to rescue the people in our society who have had bad experiences, who have been broken mentally and spiritually and socially and economically and in every way," said David Mitchell, senior pastor at Mount Gilead Baptist Church. That's what the Durham Rescue Mission does, he said.

    "Let us stand by the Durham Rescue Mission," Mitchell said. "Let us give them the kind of support that they need because they are helping all of our citizens.

    The senior Mills said some members of the City Council have visited the mission to hear their plea. He was told the council members wanted to hear from people attending the public hearing before making a decision on the issue.

    The Durham Historic Preservation Commission voted unanimously to recommend approval of the historic district. The Durham Planning Commission approved the plan by a 7-4 vote.